Soft Earl Grey Sugar Cookies

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These Earl Grey sugar cookies are incredibly soft, melt-in-your-mouth, and slightly chewy. The cookie dough comes together in less than 10 minutes and is the perfect treat year-round!

Soft earl grey sugar cookie with a bite taken out of it.

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🍪 Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • It’s perfect for Earl Grey lovers! The cookie dough uses 2 tablespoon of Earl Grey tea leaves, or about 3 tea bags worth.
  • The cookies melt in your mouth. The cookies are SUPER soft and buttery, kind of like those iconic grocery store sugar cookies… but better.
  • You won’t need any special equipment. Simply mix everything in one bowl with a silicone spatula, then bake.

Looking for more easy cookie recipes? Try out my cute lemon sugar cookies or mini chocolate chip cookies!

Ingredients

To make Earl Grey Cookies from scratch, you’ll need the following ingredients:

Earl grey sugar cookie ingredients laid out on a table with labels.
  • They key ingredient here is Earl Grey. I used loose leaf tea from a local tea shop, although any brand of Earl Grey tea will work. I prefer the texture of the leaves, but you can use finer tea or grind it for a smoother result.
  • Melted unsalted butter makes the cookie dough really easy to mix by hand.
  • I like to use a mix of brown sugar and granulated sugar to create the perfect balance of flavor and chew.
  • Adding in both baking powder and baking soda gives us the exact texture and rise we’re aiming for!
  • You can use either vanilla extract or vanilla paste (1:1) in this recipe.

Looking for a basic sugar cookie recipe? Try out my cute bunny sugar cookies!

For the full list of ingredients and measurements, see the recipe card below.

💡 Baking Tip

  • Weigh your ingredients! One of my favorite kitchen tools is a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, spoon the flour in gently, then level it with a knife or spatula.
  • For rounder cookies, place a large circular cutter or mug on top of a freshly baked, warm cookie. Move it around in a circular motion until your cookie is perfectly round! This step is totally optional and purely for plating purposes! 🙂

How to Make Soft Earl Grey Sugar Cookies

Adding earl grey tea leaves and butter to a pan to melt.

Step 1: Combine butter and tea leaves. Fully melt in a pan or in the microwave at 15-second intervals. Transfer to mixing bowl and let tea-infused butter cool to room temperature.

Wet ingredients mixed into a bowl.

Step 2: Stir in egg and vanilla until smooth.

Placing an earl grey cookie dough ball on a lined baking sheet.

Step 3: Use a cookie scoop (2-3 tablespoon capacity) to gather dough, then roll into granulated sugar. Place cookie dough balls on lined baking sheet about 3 inches apart.

Freshly baked earl grey cookies on a wire rack.

Step 4: Bake at 325°F/162°C for 10-13 minutes or until the edges are set and lightly golden. Remove from the oven let cookies sit on baking tray for at least 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to fully cool.

For full instructions, see the recipe card below.

“Insanely delish—I LOVE them!” – cookie taste tester 🍪

What does Earl Grey taste like?

Earl Grey is a black tea infused with bergamot orange. It is often described to be a bold tasting tea with hints of lemon, spice, and malt.

Can I add mix-ins to the Earl Grey cookie dough?

Yes, although it wouldn’t be a sugar cookie anymore!

You can add around ½-1 cup of mix-ins, like white or dark chocolate chips. If you’d like to flavor the dough and enhance the citrusy flavor, you can massage the zest of one small lemon with the sugars until fragrant, then mix it with your tea-infused butter.

How long do Earl Grey cookies last?

They can last at room temperature in an airtight container for up 5 days. See my storage instructions on how to freeze Earl Grey cookies.

Do you have other dessert recipes using tea?

As of right now, this is my first recipe using Earl Grey tea! I have more ideas in mind, but let me know in the comments what you’d like to see.

Otherwise, I do have a LOT of delicious matcha recipes! Some classics include my easy matcha latte, vegan matcha sugar cookies, and matcha cream buns.

Storage

  • Room temperature: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
  • Freezing instructions: Store cooled cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
  • Reheating instructions: Allow frozen cookies to thaw at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Or, reheat in the microwave at 10-second intervals.
Earl grey cookies on parchment paper.
Bianca smiling and holding a plate of food.

Did you try this recipe?

Please leave a review & share it with me on Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, or Pinterest!

Thank you so much! -Bianca ❤️

📖 Recipe & Video

Soft earl grey sugar cookie with a bite taken out of it.

Soft Earl Grey Sugar Cookies

Bianca Fernandez
Incredibly soft, melt-in-your-mouth Earl Grey sugar cookies! The cookie dough is made in less than 10 minutes and is full of fresh Earl Grey flavor.
5 from 3 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 9 minutes
Chill time 30 minutes
Total Time 49 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12 cookies

Equipment

Ingredients 

Dry ingredients:

  • 1 ½ cups (187.5 g) all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon (3 g) table salt or fine sea salt

Wet ingredients:

  • ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled
  • 2 tablespoons (10 g) earl grey tea leaves about 3 tea bags
  • ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup (55 g) light or dark brown sugar packed
  • 1 tablespoon (4 g) vanilla extract or paste
  • 1 (1) egg room temperature

For rolling:

  • 4 tablespoons (48 g) granulated sugar

Instructions 

For the cookie dough:

  • Add ½ cup unsalted butter and 2 tablespoons earl grey tea leaves into a saucepan and heat until melted. Alternatively, melt in a microwave-safe bowl in 15-second intervals. Let fully cool.
  • In a large bowl, use silicone spatula to mix melted earl grey-infused butter, ½ cup granulated sugar, and ¼ cup light or dark brown sugar until combined.
  • Mix in 1 egg and 1 tablespoon vanilla until smooth.
  • Add in all of the dry ingredients: 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon table salt. Mix until no dry spots remain.
  • Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.

Scoop & bake cookies:

  • Preheat oven to 325°F/163°C and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
  • In a small bowl or plate, add 4 tablespoons granulated sugar for rolling the dough.
  • Use cookie dough scoop to gather dough (2-3 tablespoons). Roll into granulated sugar and place on lined baking tray, spacing cookies about 3-4 inches apart.
  • Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until edges are slightly golden brown and set. Cool cookies on pan for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
    TIP: For rounder cookies, place a large circular cutter or mug on top of a freshly baked, warm cookie. Move it around in a circular motion until your cookie is perfectly round! This step is totally optional and purely for plating purposes! 🙂

Notes

Baking tip:
  • Weigh your ingredients! One of my favorite kitchen tools is a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, spoon the flour in gently, then level it with a knife or spatula.
Storage instructions:
  • Room temperature: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
  • Freezing instructions: Store cooled cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
  • Reheating instructions: Allow frozen cookies to thaw at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Or, reheat in the microwave at 10-second intervals.
Serving: 1 cookieCalories: 218kcalCarbohydrates: 30gProtein: 3gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 202mgPotassium: 38mgFiber: 1gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 308IUCalcium: 25mgIron: 1mg

The nutritional information is an estimated value per serving.

Did you try this recipe?Let us know how it was!

7 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Just made these cookies bc I loove earl grey so much! Especially the Russian earl grey. And they were perfect tysm for this recipe! I usually make my cheesecakes with black tea leaves so I was sure it would be a good idea for cookies too!

  2. 5 stars
    Amazing recipe! I’m a tea lover and this has the perfect amount of Earl grey taste. I also did use grams. Super soft and a little chewy too. One of the best cookies I’ve ever made! Can’t wait to make again.

  3. 5 stars
    (I am the author of this recipe)

    I made these cookies 4x after developing the recipe! I’ve shared my cookies with friends, acquaintances, family, and even shipped some across the country for another friend to try. (: They’re SO delicious and easy to make!!

      1. Hi hi! (: I didn’t do anything differentlyโ€”I just meant that after I created this recipe, I already made it a bunch of times to eat/share because it’s that good! Thanks for asking!

5 from 3 votes

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